Share of births outside marriage in South Korea
South Korea: Share of births outside marriage was 4.72 in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
4.72
Change on year
up 20.5%
World rank
41st
of 43 countries
All-time high
4.72
in 2024
All-time low
0.8149
in 1989
Years of data
44
1981–2024
Share of births outside marriage in South Korea, 1981–2024
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2024, share of births outside marriage in South Korea stood at 4.72. That is the highest value across all 44 years on record.
That represents a change of up 20.5% on the previous year and up 142.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of births outside marriage in South Korea peaked at 4.72 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.8149, in 1989.
That places South Korea 41st out of 43 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.
Share of births outside marriage in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 1.13 | — |
| 1982 | 1.07 | -5.7% |
| 1983 | 1.05 | -1.5% |
| 1984 | 1.03 | -2.5% |
| 1985 | 1.03 | +0.4% |
| 1986 | 1.05 | +1.6% |
| 1987 | 0.9567 | -8.8% |
| 1988 | 0.8391 | -12.3% |
| 1989 | 0.8149 | -2.9% |
| 1990 | 0.9521 | +16.8% |
| 1991 | 1.02 | +7.6% |
| 1992 | 1.14 | +11.0% |
| 1993 | 1.23 | +8.1% |
| 1994 | 1.29 | +4.7% |
| 1995 | 1.23 | -4.8% |
| 1996 | 0.9141 | -25.4% |
| 1997 | 0.9808 | +7.3% |
| 1998 | 1.05 | +6.6% |
| 1999 | 1.14 | +9.3% |
| 2000 | 1.19 | +4.4% |
| 2001 | 1.28 | +7.0% |
| 2002 | 1.41 | +10.6% |
| 2003 | 1.59 | +13.0% |
| 2004 | 1.63 | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 1.8 | +10.3% |
| 2006 | 1.78 | -1.3% |
| 2007 | 1.79 | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 1.8 | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 1.96 | +8.6% |
| 2010 | 2.06 | +5.1% |
| 2011 | 2.12 | +2.9% |
| 2012 | 2.1 | -0.9% |
| 2013 | 2.14 | +2.1% |
| 2014 | 1.95 | -9.2% |
| 2015 | 1.86 | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 1.92 | +3.0% |
| 2017 | 1.94 | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 2.19 | +12.9% |
| 2019 | 2.31 | +5.1% |
| 2020 | 2.52 | +9.3% |
| 2021 | 2.9 | +15.1% |
| 2022 | 2.95 | +1.7% |
| 2023 | 3.92 | +32.9% |
| 2024 | 4.72 | +20.5% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 4.72 is below the median for high income countries, which is 40.23, 12% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.9976 | 0.8149 | 1.13 | 9 |
| 1990s | 1.09 | 0.9141 | 1.29 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.62 | 1.19 | 1.96 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.06 | 1.86 | 2.31 | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.4 | 2.52 | 4.72 | 5 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More population data for South Korea
- Population regions with projections, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2100)
- Urban and rural population 2050, annual growth rate -2.17 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population long run with projections, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2100)
- Un population 2024 vs 2022, annual growth rate -1.17 % change on previous year (2100)
- Projected population under age 5, annual growth rate -0.3601 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population growth rate -1.45 (2100)
- Population density 223.86 (2100)
- Projected population under age 5 599,530 (2100)
- Population growth rate by level of development -1.45 (2100)
- Urbanization vs gdp, annual growth rate 0.007 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of births outside marriage in South Korea?
- Share of births outside marriage in South Korea was 4.72 in 2024, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of births outside marriage recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 4.72 in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of births outside marriage recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8149 in 1989.
- How does South Korea rank for share of births outside marriage?
- South Korea ranks 41st out of 43 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of births outside marriage rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 142.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Share of births outside marriage. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).